Niners have arrived in Chattanooga

The Charlotte 49ers' women's basketball team arrived in Chattanooga Thursday evening by charter flight for its NCAA Tournament matchup with Purdue on Saturday at McKenzie Arena.

The 49ers (23-8) are making just their second appearance in the tournament in school history (they were an at-large selection in 2003). Charlotte won the Atlantic 10 tournament to earn an automatic bid this season and has the 11th seed in the Oklahoma City Region.

On Friday, the 49ers - along with Purdue, Central Florida and North Carolina - will participate in pre-game press conferences as well as open practices at the arena. Each of the four teams will receive game-day walk-thrus on Saturday morning.

On Saturday, third seed North Carolina (26-6) will play 14th seed Central Florida (17-16) at noon, with Charlotte facing sixth seed Purdue (22-10) at approximately 2:30 p.m. The winners will play Monday at 7 p.m. All games are on ESPN2.